Reuters: Iran's retreat from Vienna talks and return to Rouhani-era agreements
On Friday, December 9, Reuters reported, citing a European diplomat, that Iranian negotiators in Vienna have agreed to continue negotiations based on the content of texts agreed upon by June of this year.
Iranian negotiators in the Rouhani government and the countries participating in the JCPOA reached agreements on how to lift sanctions on Iran and on Iran's full implementation of the JCPOA during six rounds of JCPOA revival talks held in Vienna with the indirect participation of the United States.
However, last week, the new negotiating team in the presidential administration, in the seventh round of negotiations, removed most of these agreements and presented two new drafts, which were immediately called "unacceptable" and "excessive" by the Western parties.
An unnamed European source told Reuters that it will be clear in the next few days whether Iran will actually continue negotiations based on previous agreements.
Currently, Iranian representatives and representatives of the JCPOA member states are in Vienna to continue the eighth round of talks, but Robert Malley, the US chief negotiator, has not yet gone to Vienna.
Meanwhile, Ali Bagheri, Iran's chief negotiator, in an interview with Reuters, referred to the absence of the US representative and considered the presence of Iranian negotiators in Vienna a sign that Iran is serious, and said that negotiations on Iran's new drafts are continuing.
Iran's stance on previous drafts has also been met with negative reaction from Russia. Mikhail Ulyanov, Russia's representative to international organizations in Vienna, said on Thursday, December 9, that negotiations to revive the nuclear agreement, known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), will proceed based on drafts prepared by June of this year.
At the same time, he emphasized that, according to the rules of diplomacy, "new ideas from Iranians should be properly discussed and examined."
The American newspaper The Wall Street Journal reported in its Monday, December 5th issue, that the Chinese were surprised by Iran's new nuclear proposals in the seventh round of talks in Vienna and tried to make them more balanced.
Perhaps this is why the British newspaper The Guardian on Friday attributed the withdrawal of the team led by Ali Bagheri Kani to pressure from China and Russia.
European diplomats told the Wall Street Journal that after learning of Iran's proposals, China's chief negotiator in the Joint Commission of the JCPOA held three hours of bilateral talks with his Iranian counterpart to try to balance the proposals.
According to the report, China has told nuclear negotiators in Vienna that Beijing wants Iran's nuclear program to be under international control.
Robert Malley, the US special representative for Iran, also told the BBC on Thursday that the Iranian team's approach "is not a starting point for any serious negotiations" and that everything depends on Iran's approach in the Vienna talks.
Iranian government representatives say that in addition to the two drafts presented, they have prepared three other drafts on verification of the lifting of sanctions, compensation, and US guarantees not to withdraw from the JCPOA again, to present to the countries present at the negotiations.
Source: Radio Farda
